After spending many years riding the
Hawk GT
and the
KLX,
I decided that it would be nice to have a modern bike, that was still sold, with a good amount of
aftermarket support. I thought long and hard about this, and decided with my advanced decrepitude,
I shouldn't be looking at a
sports bike
any more, and I'm too damned young to be giving up and buying a
Harley
:o). I finally settled on a
Suzuki,
the last of the big four manufacturers that I've owned.
I'd originally looked at getting a used one, but based on how most of them seem to have had the
crap beaten out of them, and that I could get a brand new 2007 model for not a lot more, I went
for the new one. It's been a long time since I've had a new bike, so this is going to be nice :o)
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I installed Kouba lowering links, to drop the seat height by 0.75" or so. Enough to
give me a bit more confidence moving it around, but hopefully not enough to bugger up the handling
too badly.
You have to knock the steel bushes out of the old linkages, so be prepared for a 5 minute job to be
closer to a 45 minute job.
After I was done, Vic rode it around the block a few times, as as soon as I've started hacking, she
won't be able to ride it. Other than banging her shins on the footpegs (she usually rides a V-Star),
she seems to have enjoyed it.
I then proceeded to
convert
it. |
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The side cases are made of magnesium, which is light, a pretty colour and amazingly
brittle. Word on the street is that you can crack a case if the bike falls over, so I've installed
case savers to ensure that the bike never falls over. I first tried to glue them on with some
silicone adhesive that I already had in the garage, but when that didn't set, I used red RTV. |
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Begone, foul plastic!
I removed the massive, but surprisingly light, tail light unit, and replaced it with a far more
modern LED setup. I cut the connectors off the old unit and soldered them onto the new unit, so it
all plugs together nicely. I was going to hack it to the loom, but then figured that the old stuff
was just going to sit in a box of stock parts I've taken off in the garage, so didn't need the
connectors.
Strangely, black with a white trace is earth...
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At the same time, I took off the lunchbox, sorry, tool bag, as it's just a nylon zip up
bag that just aches to be emptied when you leave the bike somewhere. I also took off the passenger
pegs ("where do I put my luggage?", "tell her to get her own bike"). This required the fitment of
an exhaust hanger bracket. It was a pain to fit, but it's there now. |
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The front LED turn signals showed up and were fitted, along with a variable load flasher
relay. The instructions called for the red and yellow lines to the relay to be part of the loom (I cut
the standard lines into the relay and put them on bullet connectors, so it can be changed back if
necessary), but neglects to mention that you need to run black to earth. Earth on the DRZ is run in
wires, rather than just the frame... so I stripped an earth wire and soldered my connection to it.
I also got the Acerbis Supermoto front mudguard fitted - it's smaller than the Suzuki item, and that'll
help with stability in the wind. Plus it looks cooler :o) |
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I got tired of the 95 mile range of the stock tank, so I got a 3.9 (US) gallon Clarke plastic
tank. I've lost the locking petrol cap, but gained a 200+ mile range, and the ability to see how much
petrol is in the tank by just looking :o) The plastic tank is a lot lighter, and requires the removal
of the annoying charcoal filter. I wanted to take that off anyway, as apparently overfilling the bike
slightly can stop it running with the filter on. I had a brief flirtation with a
Rekluse auto-clutch,
but it wasn't for me, so I got it out again. |
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